What should the money have been used for?

The funds not used by the council were available to any business with a rateable value below £200,000 that had a rates increase last year, even if they had already received small business rates relief or discretionary relief, Retail Express reported.

The average underspend by councils was 20 per cent - making Bath and North East Somerset council slightly worse than most of England’s 220 local authorities included in the Retail Express investigation.

Retail Express Freedom of Information figures on business rate relief

Bath & North East Somerset

Funding in thousands between 2017 - 2021 -3,331

Funding in thousands available for 2017-2018 - 392.04

The amount Bath and NE Somerset spent in 2017-2018 - £301,330.00

The amount Bath and NE Somerset failed to spend by April 1 2018 (when businesses were billed) - £90,670.00

Number of businesses in Bath and NE Somerset that received revaluation relief - 544

Percentage underspend by the council - 23.12789489

A total of 544 businesses in the area did get some of the money allocated by Government.

Which businesses are eligible?

According to the council website businesses are available for discretionary rate relief if:

The business address is included in the list of Revaluation Relief Property Addresses

The Business Rates have significantly increased as a result of the 2017 revaluation by 12.5% or more

The rateable value is less than £200,000.00

Applying simply involves filling out a form.

Unhappy local businesses

Of those who did receive support in the Bath area, some are unhappy with the relief amount they received.

Chantal Pilon, of Milsom Place shop Chanii B Shoes, said she did receive some help.

But she also told Bath Live the sum she received was “small”.

She added: “It still doesn’t make up for the crazy amount I have to pay in a city with dwindling shops that are empty.”

Read More

Milsom Place

Another local businesswoman, who did not wish to be named, said: “It’s very much unacceptable to keep money that is supposed to be going to businesses to help them out when the distribution of this money could have kept local businesses from closing.

“In fact, it would be unacceptable to keep it regardless of closures seeing as it was received from the government for this purpose.”

Advice to businesses

Read More

He said: “It’s disappointing that even when they were warned, many councils and councillors still do not understand. Unless they get their act together this money will go to waste.”

Businesses should request they get the help they deserved, Mr Sloan added.

He said: “Write to your council and require a reason why you should not receive the relief.”

Has the council responded to the Retail Express claims?

Bath Live contacted Bath and North East Somerset council on June 5, and again on June 11, to ask about the Retail Express report and whether its claims about £90,000 which could have helped small businesses in the area going to waste are true.

Read More

Latest Bath news

What the council has said on business rates already this year

In the past the council has looked to clear up rumours and allegations on Twitter regarding business rates.

It has previously said, following the closure of Milsom Place business Hunter & Sons:

1. Business rates are set nationally by the Government’s Valuation Office Agency – not the council.

2. The rateable value for Hunter & Sons café in Milsom Place is £46,250 - when this is multiplied by the small business multiplier of 0.48 it gives a bill this year of £22,200 – not £29,000

3. Business rates for the café property have not gone up by 50% - in 2015, they were £17,131; in 2016 they were £17,270; and in 2017 they were £19,299.

4. The Council gave Hunter & Sons a Discretionary Revaluation Relief of £772 last year as well as £1,500 in Retail Relief back in 2015.

5. The rent for Hunter & Sons’ commercial property in Milsom Place is set and managed by a private landlord – it is not part of the Council’s estate.

6. Retail occupancy is at 95% (compared to 88% nationally), and there is an active independent sector (64% of properties) and there is a range of international and high street brands ( Bath 2018; Carter Jonas ).

7. Bath has been ranked in the top 3 most resilient retail locations over the last 10 years; according to research on the viability and performance of 250 UK high streets outside central London ( UK High Streets: Dead or Alive; Cushman & Wakefield research 2018 )

Read More

A spokesman for the council said earlier this year after hearing about Hunter & Sons: " The council was surprised to learn of the closure of Hunter & Sons via social media, as no-one from the business had contacted us about any hardship or requesting support regarding their rates.

"We are committed to working with independent business across Bath and North East Somerset. In the city we work with the Bath Independent Business group, chaired by Cllr Peter Turner. This provides a co-ordinated voice for business and the range of representative groups across the city, which enables us to consult and listen to their issues and work through solutions to help address them."

The spokesman added that examples of outcomes included:

Direct consultation with Planning Policy, giving them the opportunity to feed into the Local Plan re-fresh and the retail based policies.

Access to 12 hours of free business support, via Cool Ventures, who have also directly supported the Walcot Street Traders Association. This is focussed on the business’s direct needs and the support can be a mixture of 1-2-1s and workshops covering anything from HR to online marketing.

"We have also had the first meeting of the Retail Group; chaired by Cllr Paul Myers, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Economic and Community Regeneration, where we consulted on our retail action plan. This has led to the initial engagement of the Moorland Road Traders, to understand their needs and see how we can support them.

"Outside of the city of Bath, we are working with the Keynsham Business group, led by Keynsham Town Council and linked to the Neighbourhood Plan business survey. We will be providing speakers, introductions to current support programmes and information on relevant issues and topics to help local businesses. We are also supporting the Somer Valley Chamber of Commerce in their efforts to promote superfast broadband to Somer Valley businesses.

Got an opinion on this or another Bath issue? Email liam.trim@reachplc.com.

Want news straight to your phone?

For Somerset as a whole:Somerset Live runs a WhatsApp group to help you keep up to date with the latest news from across the county. If you'd like to receive breaking news alerts, text NEWS to 07834 893492, then add the number to your phone contacts book as 'Somerset Live’. We will send you a maximum of four messages a day. Your phone number won't be shared with other members of the group or be used for any other purpose.

For Bath:Save the number 07939 497390 to your phone - we recommend saving the contact as 'Bath Live News' - then send the word NEWS to us via WhatsApp.